Today ESL is proud to announce the ESL CS:GO Pro League, which will be the icing on the open entry league cake for teams from all over Europe. In its first season, the qualifiers for which will be starting soon, a share of the US$50,000 prize pool is up for grabs. While this is good news for active teams worldwide, the Pro League is also great news for CS:GO fans as well as there will not only be regular top-notch matches but also much, much more.
The full ESL CS:GO Pro League announcement
With US$48,000 of the prize pool going to the top segment, eight big CS:GO scene names will be invited right away, with the remaining eight spots to be distributed via online qualifiers soon. Once this stage is done, the Pro League will kick off its very first season, bringing you epic matches every week as well as a chance to participate right away with ESL Fantasy. Set up a team tailored to the matchups ahead and dominate with your CS:GO scene knowledge to earn cool prizes!
We also took the chance to speak to Alexander “crtmN” Nehr, product manager and head CS:GO admin at ESL, about this new league and its future plans:
ESL: Hi, Alex - thanks for your time and congratulations on this big announcement! How long have you and your team been working on the ESL CS:GO Pro League?
Alexander “crtmN” Nehr: Thank you, and I’m really happy that the announcement is finally live so that we can get into the next phase of the project and enjoy great CS:GO matches very soon. We started to talk about the future of CS:GO at ESL right after ESL One Cologne. We always knew that we wanted to do more, and after another very successful and record-breaking event in Cologne we took the time to discuss our next steps and expand our activities. Overall we’ve been working on the ESL CS:GO Pro League and the league system for more than two months now.
ESL: Counter-Strike and ESL have a huge history with the CSCL, Intel Extreme Masters and EMS One, to name but a few past leagues. How does this league differ from previous ones and what makes it unique?
crtmN: Our goal with the Pro League is to produce top-notch matches between world-class teams for fans everywhere to enjoy and also for all teams to prepare properly for those matches. Therefore we focused on a system which will make every match important and instead of mass online matches which we can’t cover properly. The system we came up with means a better environment for all participating teams, better overall coverage and high quality matches for everyone to enjoy.
ESL: The first qualifiers are set to start soon, with the very first season running until February. What are we going to see during and after this first season?
crtmN: We’ll be able to see Europe’s finest teams and players in action, and bring great matches to every CS:GO fan out there on a weekly basis during the season. To sweeten the experience for the community, we’ll also offer our ESL Fantasy league from the first match week until the end of the grand final, where the community can demonstrate of their knowledge of the scene.
ESL: With US$50,000 per season on the line, the Pro League is on par with most of the other CS:GO leagues out there. How long do you think you will need to catch up with the already established ones?
crtmN: To establish the Pro League among the top-tier leagues, we need to convince everyone with our first season as this will set the path for the future. I think that due to our history we can establish ourselves after the first season if we can keep things up and convince the community with it as they are the ones who will decide in the end.
ESL: The fans now know about the ESL Collection and what it’s for - do you have anything else to say about it?
crtmN: I want to thank the entire community for their ongoing support on every level as there has been overwhelming support for our skins. We’ve also updated a few small details today and made a few more changes to the AK-47 based on feedback we got, and we hope that all of you like it even more now.
ESL: Thank you very much for your time, Alex!
What do you think about the ESL CS:GO Pro League and what crtmN has to say about it? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!